Die or mold for making clay shingles



(N M d 1Q 6 A. H. MURRAY & 0. s. WELGI-I.

DIE OR MOLD FOR MAKING CLAY SHINGLES.

V No. 532,085. Patented Jan. 8, 1895'.

J2 l I Hr MI W! MTNESSES: V 4 i INZiQ/TORS If I ATTORNEY.

has been found that the sides or edges were be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the use the same.

are retarded and the clay strip has frequently NlTE STATES PATENTALEXANDER H. MURRAY AND CALVIN S. WELCII, OF HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.-I

DIE O'R MOLD FOR MAKING CLAY SHINGLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 532,085, dated January8, 1 895.

' Application filed June 22,1894.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that we, ALEXANDER H. MUR- RAv and CALVIN S; WELCH, citizensof the United States, residing at Huntington, in the county of Cabelland State of West Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Im:provements in Dies or Molds for Making Clay Shingles; and we do declarethe following to invention, such as will enable others skilled 1n theart to which it appertains to make and This invention is an improved dieor mold for making clay shinglesand other articles of similar character,and it also purports to'cover the article produced thereby.

The die is adapted to be attached to any of the well known clay workingmachines in WhlOh the clay is worked into a plastic state and thenforced from a compression chamber by a piston or worm through a die ormold to give the strip or blank of clay the desired shape, said strip orblank being subsequently cut into the desired lengths. Bricks and tileshave beenmade in this manner because in these articles there wasconsiderable depth to the strip or blank, but even in these cases itsplit owing to the central portion of the clay strip or bar movingfaster than the side. This is due to the friction between the sides ofthe mold or die and the mass of clay. This defect has now been partiallycured by lubricating the molds. Attempts have also been made to form ablank or strip for clay shingles, but lnasmuch as this'strip must bevery thin it has heretofore been found to be impossible to form aperfect blank with perfect sides and edges suitable for shingles.

In brick machines thecolumn of clay is so thick that by lubrication acomparatively, even brick can be' produced, but where the clay is forcedthrough a long narrow slot, still greater difficulties are to be metwith as instead, of the skin or outer portion only of the clay beingretarded the entire side portions divided in the center and curled thesame as a wooden shaving.

Now the obj ect of this invention is to remedy these defects and providea die or .mold

$erial No. 515,376. (No model.)

which can be attached to any machine and produce a thin even shingleblank, the edges and sides of which shall be perfect and free fromsplits.

"With these objects in view our invention consists broadly of a die ormold having a circular opening at the rear, the desired shaped openingat the front, flatretarding surfaces arranged adjacent to the front ofsaid die or mold and the centralcnrved portions which serve to guide theclay evenly and steadily to the sides and retarding portions ofthe mold.

Our invention consists also in making a two part die or mold eachportion having a semicircular opening at the rear, a flat retardingsurface at the front, a central convex portion and the concaved surfacesadjacent to said central portion. I Our invention consists also incertain details of construction and novelties of combination all ofwhich will be more fully described hereinafter and designated in theappended claims.

In the drawings hereunto annexed, forming a part of this specification,and in which similar reference characters designatethe same or similarparts, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the die or'm'old showing theclay blank, ribbon or strip issuing therefrom. Fig. 2 is a rear view ofthe two part mold. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the lower half. Figs.4: and 5 show slight modifications.

In carrying out our invention we preferably construct our mold or die intwopieces A A which may be connected to each other in any desired mannerand also to the compression chamber B of a clay working machine in anypreferred way. At its rear end the die or mold has a circular opening 0,and the opening in the compression chamber Will be made circular also.

At the forward end the die'or mold has an openin g D which is shapedaccording to the article desired, but is usually an oblong as shown inFigs. 1 and 2.

The die or mold though preferably made in two pieces can be madeintegral. However, in the treatment of this specification, we shallconsider the mold made of two parts similar in construction and adescription of one part, therefore, will suiiice for both;

Each section of the die or mold is formed of a solid block and at itsrear end is cut out, at a,in the form of a semi-circle, so that when thetwo parts are placed together they produce the circular opening 0. Atthe forward end is formed a recess or depression a so shaped that whenthe two parts are in position they will produce the oblong opening D.Adjacent to the depression a and level therewith is the centralretarding surface E essentially segment shaped, broadest at the centerand tapering from said center toward each corner of the depression a.The surface between the retarding surface and end of the block isconvexed between the corners of the surface and the center of the rearend, as shown at F, or that portion confined between the retardingportion and the dotted lines X X while the surface on each side of thelines X X is concaved as clearly shown at G G. This constructionproduces a central convex portion and guiding tapering grooves orconcaved surfaces upon each side to feed the clay evenly to the edgeswhile the central portion is being retarded.

In Figs. t and 5 we have shown a slight modification wholly within thescope of our invention, from which it will be seen that instead ofplacing the retarding surface within the die or mold, it may be placedat the forward end, as shown at G, and the central raised portion can bedispensed with, if desired, and the interior of the mold be made conicalin shape, or the retarding surfaces may be convex on both sides, asshown in Fig. 5.

The parts of the mold are provided with suitable flanges a by means ofwhich they are connected together and to the compression chamber.

In operation the parts are assembled and connected with the machine asshown in Fig. 1. The clay in a plastic state is then fed to the die ormold by means of a piston or the spiral or worm conveyer as desired. Asit enters the mold or die the central convex portion divides it andspreads it into the channels G G so that the sides are suppliedplentifully and evenly. When the retardiug'surface is reached hereequalization again takes place as it will be noticed that this surfaceis widest at the center and decreases toward both ends. By thisconstruction the blank strip or ribbon issuing from the mold will befound to be perfect and free from flaws and splits at the edges asheretofore described. It

produced before.

surface is arranged upon the outer side it is also widest at the center.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is v 1. An improved die or mold having a centralretarding surface orsurfaces broadest at the center and decreasingtoward each end, said retarding surface being fiat and level withvthemouth or opening of the die substantially as shown and described.

2. An improved die or mold having a central retarding surface orsurfaces at its for ward end, said surface being flat and level with themouth of the die, broadest at the center and decreasing toward eachside, substantially as described.

3. An improved die or mold having a flat central retarding surface orsurfaces level with the mouth of the die, broadest at the center anddecreasing toward each end, and a central convex portion or portionsextending from the retarding surface to the rear end of the die,substantially as described.

4:. An improved die or mold made in two parts each part having a flatcentral retarding surface, broadest at the center, a central con- Vexportion and concaved surfaces upon each side of the convex portion,substantially as shown and described.

5. An improved die or mold made in two parts each part having a flatcentral retarding surface, broadest at its center, a central convexportion broadest at the forward end, and the concaved surfaces on eachside of the central convex portion, said concaved surfaces beingbroadest at the rear ends and forming a semi circular opening or recessat the rear end of the die, substantially as shown and described.

6. An improved die or mold composed of two parts, and having a circularopening at the rear and an opening of the desired shape at the front,retarding surfaces E, level with the face of the opening, convexportions F and concave portions G G all substantially as described.

7. An improved die or mold having a retarding lip or surface upon thefront of said die or mold, said die being made in two parts having aconical shaped chamber within the same, substantially as shown anddescribed.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

.ALEXANDER H. MURRAY.

CALVIN S. WELOH.

Witnesses:

AZEL MCGURDY, Jr., F. F. McOULLoUGH.

